Colossians 2:6-23

6 Therefore as you have received ¹Christ Jesus the Lord, so ²walk in Him,

7 having been firmly ³rooted and now being ⁴built up in Him and ⁵established in your faith, just as you ⁶were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

8 ⁷See to it that no one takes you captive through ⁸philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the ⁹elementary principles of the world, rather than * according to Christ.

9 For in Him all the ¹⁰fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

10 and in Him you have been ¹¹made complete, and ¹²He is the head over all ¹³rule and authority;

11 and in Him ¹⁴you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of ¹⁵the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

12 having been ¹⁶buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also ¹⁷raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who ¹⁸raised Him from the dead.

13 When you were ¹⁹dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He ²⁰made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

14 having canceled out ²¹the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and ²²He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

15 When He had ²³disarmed the ²⁴rulers and authorities, He ²⁵made a public display of them, having ²⁶triumphed over them through Him.

16 Therefore no one is to ²⁷act as your judge in regard to ²⁸food or ²⁹drink or in respect to a ³⁰festival or a ³¹new moon or a ³²Sabbath day-

17 things which are ³³a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

18 Let no one keep ³⁴defrauding you of your prize by ³⁵delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, ³⁶inflated without cause by his ³⁷fleshly mind,

19 and not holding fast to ³⁸the head, from whom ³⁹the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

20 ⁴⁰If you have died with Christ to the ⁴¹elementary principles of the world, ⁴²why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to ⁴³decrees, such as,

21 "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"

22 (which all refer ⁴⁴to things destined to perish with use )-in accordance with the ⁴⁵commandments and teachings of men?

23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in ⁴⁶self-made religion and self-abasement and ⁴⁷severe treatment of the body, but are of no * value against ⁴⁸fleshly indulgence.

Colossians 2:6-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO COLOSSIANS 2

In this chapter the apostle expresses his great concern for the Colossians, and others he had never seen; exhorts them to constancy in the faith of Christ; warns them of false teachers, and their tenets; takes notice of various blessings and privileges they had by Christ, and cautions against several superstitions and corruptions, which were obtaining among the churches of Christ: in Col 2:1 the apostle declares the conflict he had for the persons he writes to, and for others, though they had never seen him, which he was desirous they might be acquainted with; partly for the comfort of their hearts, their cement in love, and the improvement of their knowledge of divine things, the treasures of which are in Christ, Col 2:2,3, and partly that they might not be deceived by the enticing words of the false teachers, Col 2:4, and should his absence and distance from them be objected to his professed concern and affection for them, he answers, that notwithstanding that, he was present with them in spirit, and had a discerning of their faith and order, and the steadfastness thereof, with pleasure, Col 2:5, wherefore he exhorts them to perseverance in the faith of Christ, and to an abounding: in it, Col 2:6,7, and to take heed of being hurt by the vain philosophy and traditions of the Jews, but to keep close to Christ, and the truths of his Gospel, seeing all fulness is in him, and they were full in him, who is over all, and superior to all, and therefore had no need to have recourse unto, and hearken to any other, Col 2:9,10, nor did they need any Jewish ordinances, particularly circumcision, since they were partakers of another and better circumcision in Christ; and besides, were buried in baptism with him; and even though they had been dead in sin, and in their fleshly uncircumcision, yet they were alive, quickened with Christ, and had the forgiveness of all their sins for his sake; who had freed them from the ceremonial law, and had rid them of all their former lords and masters, and had brought them into the liberty of the Gospel, Col 2:11-15, wherefore he concludes, by way of exhortation and advice, first with respect to Jewish ceremonies, not to suffer them to be imposed upon them, or to regard the censures of men for the non-observance of them, since these were but shadows, of which Christ is the substance, Col 2:16,17, and next with respect to the worship of angels, under a notion of humility, some were for introducing; who are described as bold intruders, vain, proud, and conceited persons, and as not holding the head Christ, to whom the body the church is joined, and by whom it is nourished and increased, Col 2:18,19, and seeing now they that are Christ's are dead with him to the ceremonial law, and that dead to them, the apostle argues that they should not be subject to the ordinances, commands, and doctrines of men; some of which he instances in, as if they were still under the rudiments of the world; and the rather, since these things had no true wisdom in them, only a show of it, and were no other than will worship and superstition, and lay in a negligence of the body, and were dishonourable and unsatisfying, Col 2:20-23.

Cross References

• 1. Galatians 3:26
• 2. Colossians 1:10
• 3. Ephesians 3:17
• 4. 1 Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:20
• 5. 1 Corinthians 1:8
• 6. Ephesians 4:21
• 7. 1 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Galatians 5:15; Hebrews 3:12
• 8. Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 2:23; 1 Timothy 6:20
• 9. Galatians 4:3; Colossians 2:20
• 10. 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:19
• 11. Ephesians 3:19
• 12. Ephesians 1:21
• 13. 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 3:10; Colossians 2:15
• 14. Romans 2:29; Ephesians 2:11
• 15. Romans 6:6; Romans 7:24; Galatians 5:24; Colossians 3:5
• 16. Romans 6:4
• 17. Romans 6:5; Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:13; Colossians 3:1
• 18. Acts 2:24
• 19. Ephesians 2:1
• 20. Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 2:12
• 21. Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:20
• 22. 1 Peter 2:24
• 23. Ephesians 4:8
• 24. John 12:31; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 3:10; Colossians 2:10
• 25. Ephesians 4:8
• 26. 2 Corinthians 2:14
• 27. Romans 14:3
• 28. Mark 7:19; Romans 14:17; Hebrews 9:10
• 29. Mark 7:19; Romans 14:17; Hebrews 9:10
• 30. Leviticus 23:2; Romans 14:5
• 31. 1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 31:3; Nehemiah 10:33
• 32. Mark 2:27; Galatians 4:10
• 33. Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 10:1
• 34. 1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:14
• 35. Colossians 2:23
• 36. 1 Corinthians 4:6
• 37. Romans 8:7
• 38. Ephesians 1:22
• 39. Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 4:16
• 40. Romans 6:2
• 41. Colossians 2:8
• 42. Galatians 4:9
• 43. Colossians 2:14, 16
• 44. 1 Corinthians 6:13
• 45. Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:9; Titus 1:14
• 46. Colossians 2:18
• 47. 1 Timothy 4:3
• 48. Romans 13:14; 1 Timothy 4:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "lead your life"
• [b]. Or "by"
• [c]. One early ms reads "in it with"
• [d]. Lit "and not"
• [e]. Lit "full"
• [f]. Lit "of"
• [g]. Or "by reason of"
• [h]. Or "divested Himself of"
• [i]. Or "it;" i.e. the cross
• [j]. Lit "judge you"
• [k]. Or "days"
• [l]. Lit "body"
• [m]. Lit "of Christ"
• [n]. Or "deciding against you"
• [o]. Or "humility"
• [p]. Or "going into detail about"
• [q]. Or "conceited"
• [r]. Lit "bonds"
• [s]. Lit "of God"
• [t]. Lit "from"
• [u]. Or "by being consumed"
• [v]. Lit "report;" Gr "logos"
• [w]. Or "would-be religion"